Leadership is but a Privilege
by Cha-Cha-Cheesecake
Summary: The gang discuss the Fantastic Four in their hotel room after the incident in Mahore. Then Nico strikes up the interesting debate of who should be the leader. Prequel to Hunted. Oneshot.


**Leadership is but a Privilege**

"Hey," Nico brought up one evening. "We're this elite group now, right?" Ed looked up from the book he was reading.

"I guess so. What about it?" Nico looked around.

The whole gang (Nico, Ketty, Ed and Dylan) were sat in their hotel room in Mahore, relaxing for a few days before being sent out to England again. Nico was lay on his bed staring up at the ceiling, Ketty was sat next to him on the edge of his bed holding his hand, Ed was hunched over reading a hardback on his own bed, and Dylan was flicking a lighter she'd found in one of the bed-side drawers on and off underneath her chin the way you hold a buttercup to check the yellow glow and laughing at Ketty's dumbstruck expression when her chin came out uncharred.

As usual, one of them had struck up a dumb conversation, and the others were weary to hear it.

"Well, I mean, I was watching the Fantastic Four on my iPod last night at 2 AM," Nico continued. "Cause Fergus got the DVD for xmas and was convincing me to watch it a few weeks before the freak storm. I loaded it on ages ago, but I only got round to watching it last night."

"What do we have anything to do with the Fantastic Four?" Ketty asked, propping herself up on one elbow.

"Well, Reade was the super bendy one, but he was the one that was all into thinking things through and stuff… So I'd say that fits Ed."

"Okay, the only way to describe me is 'the one that was all into thinking things through and stuff'? Great," Ed said dryly.

"And Sue was the practical one who was strong and independent and stuff.""I nominate Ketty over there," Dylan grinned. Ketty rolled her eyes.

"But I always liked Ben… He was the passionate one," she said.

"Am I the only one who hasn't seen the Fantastic Four?" Dylan asked.

"Looks like it," piped up Ketty. "Anyway, back onto Ben. He seems like a lost soul to me. So romantic."

"Romantic?" Ed frowned. "He never seemed romantic to me. He always seemed angry to me."

"Yeah, he was this little ball of rage. But I guess he could be pretty misunderstood… And he was super strong too. I vote Dylan," Nico said, pointing to her. She glared.

"So I'm a ball of rage _and_ misunderstood?"

"They say fiery hair, fiery temper," Ketty remarked. Dylan's eyes narrowed.

"That's really shallow. So, what? Was this Ben guy ginger too?"

"Actually, he was bald," Ed put in helpfully. She glared at him.

"Whatever. So, fine. I'm the lame guy that's all soppy and stuff. But no way in hell am I romantic."

"And finally, Johnny," Nico went on.

"You," Ed and Ketty said in union. Nico stared.

"How am I like Johnny?" he demanded.

"Well… Well, think about it, Nico," Ketty said, embarrassed, playing with her hair. "I mean, he's… how do you put it?"

"A show-off," Ed chimed in. Nico's face grew sour.

"So now I'm a show-off?"

"You've always been, for god's sake," Dylan snapped irritably. "What else is new?"

"Why, you…"

"A-Anyway," Ketty said quickly, "Any other personality traits?"

"Well, apart from being a show-off-"

"You mentioned that already," Nico said through gritted teeth.

"He was also rash," continued Ed, ignoring this comment. "He didn't think things through the way that Reade did, he just acted on the spot and often paid a price."

"I bet you stole that from Wikipedia," scowled Nico. Ed shrugged.

"Nope. Just a review I left on a website."

"He was also a bit of a hothead - which you are," Ketty said, grinning sheepishly. He rolled his eyes.

"Babe, that cuts me deep," he said, putting an arm around her. She giggled.

"Well, anyway, are you going to get to the point?" she asked. He nodded.

"Right, anyway. Well, they became this awesome group, and they got themselves a group name, a uniform, and most importantly, a leader."

"Well, we got the name bit down. It's the Medusa Project, my dad named it himself," Dylan said proudly.

"A uniform seems a bit… stupid though," Ed said. "I mean, that just makes us look like we all think the same. Being individual is important. It shows people that the same tricks won't work twice on us."

"But that doesn't make any sense. Won't that be better? I mean, think about it. We'll be able to fool people better that way."

"Well, we'll leave that discussion for another day," Ketty said gently, putting a hand on his arm.

"So, in the movie, Johnny was talking to the press, and he made himself the leader. Therefore, we need to appoint a leader too."

"A leader?" Ketty wrinkled her nose. "Why do we need a leader?"

"Because… A leader's in charge. They decide what to do when no one else can make up their mind. And they take responsibility for everyone else's actions."

"Hmm… Well, what should we do?"

"I vote that I be the leader," Nico said. "I mean, Johnny appointed himself the leader in the Fantastic Four. And, like you guys said yourself, I am the Johnny of this group."

"But Reade is the one that actually became the leader in that scene. He corrected Johnny there. And he's the most mature one. So Ed should be the leader," Ketty said.

"But what about that Sue chick? According to you guys, she's the only girl of the group. Girl power is what it's all about." Dylan pointed to Ketty. "She should be the leader."

"Huh?" Ketty looked flustered. "B-But I-"

"But," Dylan said, "I could contradict myself. I mean, you said this Ben guy was super strong. Isn't strength the most important thing for a leader to have?"

"You gotta be strong-willed too," Nico said. "And Ben was really bad at that. I mean, he almost killed Johnny so many times, cause he couldn't control his temper. He was a spitfire. Really unstable."

"Well, everyone has their setbacks," Dylan said sulkily. "What do you suggest, Human Torch?"

"I thought you said you'd never seen Fantastic Four," frowned Ketty. Dylan shrugged.

"I was awake last night, when Nico was watching it. He was tapping something into his phone. I searched it. Human Torch just happened to crop up here and there."

"You went through my phone?" Nico looked shocked. "Why the hell would you do that?"

"Well, I don't know. I was bored." Nico stood up and marched towards her.

"Go on, Nico," Dylan edged on, eyes flaming. "Go on, sock me one. See what good it'll do."

"All right, break it up," Ketty said, moving between the two. "We don't need a leader to be a team."

"That's the most shit thing I've heard all day," Dylan drawled. Ketty's lip curled but she held back insults that formed in her head.

"I think Ketty's right," Ed said. "We don't have to have a leader to be in this project. We're still us, whether we have someone in charge or not. You're still you, I'm still me."

"Well, whatever. My dad is still the leader at heart," Dylan said, hands on her hips. "He created the gene, which allowed us to become the Medusa Project in the first place. Without him, we wouldn't even be a team."

"That doesn't make him the leader," argued Ketty. As the four began to debate, Geri Paterson watched them from the doorway, eyes on the children before her.

_Whatever they may say… I'm still the true leader of the Medusa Project._

**XXX**

**Hey guys! Just a little fic I conjured up after watching the Fantastic Four. It's one of the most epic action-films I've ever seen. The Silver Surfer's on next week on TV… I can't wait to watch it!**

**Please review =)**


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